Sara Desumala

Sara Desumala is an adult who has learning disability, visual impairment, and Cerebral Palsy. She struggled finding a dentist who could cater to her special health care needs in the Bay Area. 

Dr. Marita Rohr Inglehart

Dr. Marita R. Inglehart is a  professor of dentistry in the Department of Periodontics and Oral Medicine, an adjunct professor in the Department of Psychology and an Inaugural University Diversity & Social Transformation Professor at the University of Michigan. She received her education at the University of Mannheim in Germany where she also was a faculty member.

Dr. Inglehart addresses the role of diversity and social justice in dental education and in oral health care settings. Her research has focused on how to educate future and current dental care providers to become culturally literate, and on documenting how poor oral health of patients from underserved backgrounds affects their quality of life.

She has published over 150 peer-reviewed publications, four books and numerous book chapters.

Dr. Erin Shah

Erin Shah received her D.D.S. from the University of the Pacific Arthur A. Dugoni Dental School (UOP). She stayed on to teach at UOP and worked in private practice and public health before specializing in Pediatric Dentistry. She completed her Pediatric Dentistry Residency at The University of Illinois at Chicago, then returned to the Bay area to continue teaching and working in private practice and public health. In residency and practice, she works with children with autism, complex medical conditions, and severe dental needs. Dr. Shah is a Diplomate of the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry and is a Fellow of the International College of Dentists. She serves on the Board and is Chair of Legislative Committee for the San Francisco Dental Society. Dr. Shah is an attending at Stanford Children’s Health/Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital. She is passionate about customizing dental prevention to families and their lifestyles and advocates on access to care issues.

Jamie Chang

Jamie Chang is a third-year dental student at the UCSF School of Dentistry, expecting to graduate in 2023. As a 2021-2022 Albert Schweitzer fellow, she engaged in a one-year fellowship committed to community service. Throughout this past year, she partnered with a nonprofit called The Arc San Francisco, which supports adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, to improve oral health outcomes among this population. She held weekly dental educational sessions over Zoom with Arc clients, as well as one-on-one sessions with them and their caregivers to provide individualized support and attention to their personal obstacles and experiences with dental care. Moving forward, she hopes to pursue pediatric dentistry and continue her commitment to empowering others, especially children from underserved backgrounds and those with special needs.

Dr. Jean Calvo

Dr. Jean Marie Calvo is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Orofacial Sciences. Dr. Calvo earned her doctor of dental surgery degree at the UCSF School of Dentistry, where she also completed her specialty training in pediatric dentistry. Prior to doing her residency, she completed her Master’s of Public Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health with a focus on social determinants of health. In addition to her teaching responsibilities, she provides dental care to children and adolescents, with the goals of improving their oral health and making dental visits fun. She is devoted to increasing access to dental care for all children and is particularly passionate about providing care to underserved children, such as those with complex medical conditions or other special health care needs. This is also a subject of her research.